Defending champion Japan advanced to the World Baseball Classic semifinals Wednesday with a 5-0 win over Cuba. Japan scored two unearned runs with two outs in the fourth inning on a foggy night at Petco Park when Cuban center fielder Yoennis Cespedes committed a two-base error on Michihiro Ogasawara's high fly ball.

The Japanese pitchers who will be joining major league rotations this season have come with far less fanfare than some of their predecessors, but Kenshin Kawakami and Koji Uehara are quietly making their new teams happy.